Ultrasound transducer arrangement and assembly, coaxial wire assembly, ultrasound probe and ultrasonic imaging system

Abstract

An ultrasound transducer arrangement (100) is disclosed comprising a plurality of substrate islands (110, 120, 130) spatially separated and electrically interconnected by a flexible polymer assembly (150) including electrically conductive tracks providing said electrical interconnections, said plurality including a first substrate island (110) comprising a plurality of ultra sound transducer cells (112) and a second substrate island (120) comprising an array of external contacts for connecting the ultrasound sensor arrangement to a flexible tubular body including a coaxial wire assembly (200) comprising a plurality of coaxial wires (220) each having a conductive core (228) covered by an electrically insulating sleeve (226); and an electrically insulating body (210) having a first main surface (211), a second main surface (213) and a plurality of through holes (212) each extending from the first main surface to the second main surface and coated with an electrically conductive member, wherein each coaxial wire comprises an exposed terminal core portion mounted in one of said though holes from the first main surface, and wherein each through hole is sealed by a solder bump (214) on the second main surface such that the ultrasound transducer arrangement can be directly mounted on the flexible tubular body without the need for a PCB.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to an ultrasound transducer arrangement comprising a plurality of substrate islands spatially separated and electrically interconnected by a flexible polymer assembly.[0002]The present invention further relates to an ultrasound transducer assembly including such an ultrasound transducer arrangement.[0003]The present invention yet further relates to a coaxial wire assembly for mating with the ultrasound transducer assembly.[0004]The present invention still further relates to an ultrasound probe including such an ultrasound transducer assembly and coaxial wire assembly.[0005]The present invention even still further relates to an ultrasound imaging system including such an ultrasound probe.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0006]IC dies including ultrasound sensing capabilities, e.g. ultrasonic transducer chips, are increasingly used as a sensing tip of an ultrasound probe such as an ultrasound catheter. The ultrasound sensing capabili...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is about a flexible transducer arrangement that can be folded onto a rigid carrier and connected to coaxial wires without an interconnecting PCB, resulting in a compact and high-density ultrasound assembly. This allows for the use of the flexible ultrasound probe in applications such as catheters, and high-resolution images can be obtained in a forward-looking direction away from the rigid support structure. An ultrasonic imaging system is also provided that includes this flexible ultrasound probe, which can reliably produce images of small spaces of interest, such as cardiac volumes.

Problems solved by technology

Miniaturization is a particular challenge when developing ultrasound probes.

These requirements are difficult to reconcile with the desire to include significant signal processing capability at the probe.

However, it is not straightforward to achieve a sufficiently compact ultrasonic scanner in this manner.

However, the minimum dimensions of the PCB and discrete components typically preclude sufficient miniaturization to facilitate use of such probes in dimensionally challenging environments, e.g. cardiac environments.

Yet another disadvantage of the array shown is US 2010 / 0280388 A1 is its limited field of view in the forward looking direction.

Images